Rigor Mortis
by ClockworkRose
Summary: "It's almost amusing how you could think that I would believe you. Every time I have encountered a vampire many deaths have followed their inevitable downfall. You however are not like the kind that I kill." At this statement every set of eyes in the room widened, golden pools of shock reflected back at Bella as she spoke.


**Rigor Mortis **

**Rating: M **for gore and horror etc. Smut will enter later. There's a trigger warning on this chapter for scenes of child abuse/death.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters in Rigor Mortis or Twilight. If I did that would be really bad.

**A/N: **Hey there this fic will be a combination of Twilight and a Japanese Horror film called Rigor Mortis. The storyline will be in the Twilight universe while using principles from Rigor Mortis and Japanese culture/beliefs. I plan on making it a multi chapter fic so more is on the way. I hope you all like it, if you have any constructive criticism or comments shoot me a review.

**Chapter One: **A New Place to Call Home

Back to another depressing setting thought Bella morosely, of all the places that she could have picked to hide out in, Forks had to be the worst setting. However her Uncle Charlie agreed to put her up for free and considering her current monetary situation she really should not be complaining too much. At least this town was off the map and with a bit of luck, free of any possessions, black magic, or reanimated corpses, after Yau's death a pathetic little town sounded perfect.

Driving down a winding road in her beat up car the rain beat down on the windshield unforgivingly. Turning down into the driveway she couldn't help but think that the house looked rather sad, dilapidated and abandoned. With a sense of defeat Bella slid out of the car gracefully and shouldered her small bag as she walked up the path to Charlie's house. Knocking on the door she felt the weight of what had happened in the past year burning into her skin, the object that ended it all sitting heavily in her bag. "Hey Bells, I didn't think that you'd be here until later. It's a bit messy, sorry." Charlie spoke awkwardly as he ushered her over the door step and into the house. It was nothing special, a standard house all in all, the floors littered with empty pizza boxes and beer bottles, Charlie was apparently still taking his divorce just as hard after all these years.

"No worries Charlie, any room is good for me. Still ordering take out every night I see?" He looked down with a hint of embarrassment overcoming his face and scuffed his boots on the floor. "You know that I can't cook anything Bell." Bella laughed and walked into the kitchen, rolling her sleeves up she went through the fridge looking for the leftovers that had likely died in there. "Pizza Charlie really? How old is this, it's molding. No matter, I'm going to go shopping and cook you up a proper meal. How does gluttonous rice sound?" After all of her years cooking the same dish for Yau, Bella figured it was a safe and tasty way to start, plus she'd even have some rice on the side just in case a supernatural emergency arose in this tiny town.

"You still carrying that stuff around with you? I doubt that you'll need it here but I'm not complaining. Cook away, just grab me some more beer okay?" Bella nodded her head as she grabbed her keys off the counter and threw on her jacket. "Sure Charlie. See you in a bit." Striding out the door Bella ran through the rain to her car and threw on the heat, starting up the piece of scrap metal she couldn't help but think that maybe a life here in Forks with Charlie wouldn't be all that bad.

Pushing the cart down the halls of the grocery store Bella tried to spot out all the ingredients that she would need. "I may as well just buy some of everything. God knows Charlie doesn't have anything edible at home," Bella muttered under her breath as she randomly threw things into the cart. Not even looking up she didn't see the petite figure in front of her, which of course ended with Bella crashing into the smaller woman. Falling on top of her Bella became entranced: she was beautiful. Her features were petite and aristocratic, her hair was as black as onyx and spiked up in every direction, and her eyes were a burnt honey. Feeling the girls skin pressed against hers Bella felt her suspicion rise when the rock hard quality of it didn't yield underneath her body. Listening closely she did not hear a heartbeat coming from the girl and her breathing was too measured, almost as if it were timed.

Slowly picking her body up Bella pulled the stranger up with her. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you coming down the aisle. I hope you're okay; my dad's a doctor if you're not. I'm Alice, who are you? I haven't seen you around here before." She was obviously some form of supernatural but what exactly that was didn't jump out at her, maybe a vampire but she was clearly not the type that the young hunter was accustomed to dealing with. Of course it was her luck to run into a vampire on her first day in this town, she came here to escape her kind not run right into one. The vampire kept speaking at a rapid pace, her excitement filling the air as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "Stop with the pleasantries and let me make one thing clear, I know what you are. Try and kill me and I'll exterminate you. Understand?" As she spoke the young hunter rose to her full height, towering over the vampire, she summoned every ounce of intimidation that she could.

"Hey calm down. I'm not going to kill you! My family isn't like that but wait how do you know about us? You're human." Alice's eyes widened as she came to the realization that the girl was outright threatening a vampire, an immortal, she was either stupid or she knew what she was doing. Her mate seemed far more dangerous now than she did in her vision earlier. "What an astute observation. What gave my stunningly blatant morality away?" The snide tone used in the hunter's voice was cutting to her mate but Bella didn't know that. "There's no need for that. No one is getting hurt. Why don't you come meet my family, you can see that we aren't bad. How does that sound?" It would be the first time that Bella had ever been in the presence of many vampires, but this kind didn't seem nearly as violent as the many supernatural beings that she had faced in her lifetime. Nodding her head in agreement she jerked back as the vampire grabbed onto her and pulled her out of the grocery store and into her car; a Porsche 911 Turbo. Apparently even supernatural beings had good taste when it came to cars.

After an increasingly tense drive filled with nonsensical chatter from Alice they arrived at the girl's house. It was barely even a house, calling it a mansion would be more fitting, it was nearly all made of glass. A beautiful creation really but somewhat trivial for a house full of vampires. "C'mon everyone is home and waiting," Alice said cheerily as she skipped up the steps to the house. Walking in and following the girl Bella found herself in a living room surrounded by seven vampires, they all sat tensely, ready for a possible confrontation which at this point seemed unlikely. "Have a seat and we can all introduce ourselves. I am Carlisle the coven leader of our little group." A tall blonde man spoke in a calming tone from the loveseat across the room, he seemed to be the least hostile of them all and the women holding his hand was even less so. "Little? Two or three is just that but not seven." Bella felt herself yet again pulled behind the tiny vampire as they both sat down on one of the couches.

"To start off I would like to welcome you to Forks. After your evening today that must sound strange but I truly hope that your stay here is pleasant. Now Alice here has informed me that you are aware of what we are. I wish to assure you that we mean you no harm." Carlisle spoke in a controlled voice; the direct eye contact was unnerving but appreciated. Seeing the sincerity in his eyes Bella began to wish that she could believe him. "It's almost amusing how you could think that I would believe you. Every time I have met a vampire many deaths have followed their inevitable downfall. You however are not like the kind that I kill." At this statement every set of eyes in the room widened, golden pools of shock reflected back at her, two of the male vampires even began to growl at the statement.

"So you are a hunter then, you seem very unfamiliar with us to be one. What were the vampires that you killed like?" Bella stood from the couch despite Alice's protests at her moving from her close vicinity. Looking at the creatures in front of her she fell back into memory. "A vampire, also called Jiangshi, is in my experience a reanimated corpse that hops with its arms outstretched. Silly sounding but true, in the reanimation process the body is stilled by Rigor Mortis, making the corpse stiff. It's main goal after reanimation is to absorb human life essence, they are near impossible to destroy when brought back, but even more impossible when the corpse possesses a soul." As Bella spoke she began to pace, clutching at her right arm, the terror that these creatures could instill in a person began to show on her face.

"It's clear that you are not the same type but you are a vampire. You don't have the stench of death about you, your flesh is not rotting or broken, and you all have a soul. What kind of vampires are you?" While explaining Bella began to feel the memories start to bombard her, all the death and pain to come from her eighteen years resurfacing at the mention of a Jiangshi. Her senses then began to pick up and from the corner of her eyes she saw a boy. He had appeared as if from nowhere as all spirits do and he couldn't have been more than six years old.

His features were mangled; it looked as if someone had gouged the young boys left eye out and then took the knife to the rest of his face. The inexperienced stitching keeping his features together was dirty and covered in dry blood and his skin had just begun to rot, as if he still had a body to rot in. "Do you have any candy?" Bella began to walk closer to the boy as she spoke to Carlisle, he did nothing more than continue to crouch in the corner where he first appeared. His spirit must have been attached to this land somehow; it would be unlikely for him to be connected to any of the people in this house Bella thought.

"Uh yes we do, I'll go get some." After a strange look Alice bounced off to the kitchen to get what was requested and when she did a vision overcame her. _"Don't worry love. I won't let anything hurt you especially not some wayward spirit from your past." Bella spoke to her with a convicted passion in her voice and the look in her eyes was reminiscent of a bright burning flame. It only intensified as Alice began to lean into her, their lips grazed so gently, the softness of Bella's lips was only magnified by her taste. A kiss that was at first filled with a sweet exploration became a passion filled embrace as Bella bit down on Alice's lip, igniting her base instinct to mate. _

Coming out of her vision Alice could feel the burn ignite between her legs as her body filled with lust. The girl's eyes began to darken as she started to picture everything that she would be able to do with Bella when their mating connection hit her human. Pictures of Bella in every position flitted through her mind; the hunter between her legs, the press of her body above her, beneath her, consuming her. Alice could hardly think straight as the thoughts overtook her mind and to distract herself she grabbed the candy that her love had requested and left the room, pushing down her deep want to fulfill the mating bond.

"Here's the candy, what did you need it for?" Stepping forward and taking the candy from Alice, Bella slowly began to walk over to the boy. Bending down just near him she laid the candy at his feet and waited. His neck snapped up and everyone heard his bones click and saw his glamour drop as he crawled slowly over to the candy before snatching it up. From the gasps heard around the room it was clear that nobody had seen the little guy lurking around the house before. "This boy is called a Zashiki-Warashi; basically he is a spirit that is stuck on this earth and his kind likes to cause mischief. They latch onto people who give them loving attention, much like a mother with its child. However they do have a darker side, their death is always a gruesome one. When they come across a human who is responsible for an act similar to what caused their death they will cause an accident to end their life. Vengeance in a way." Seeing the stunned looks on every vampire's face, Bella then sat down near the spirit as he played with the wrappers left over from the candy. A caramel haired vampire slowly walked over towards the two and sat down next to the boy as well, smiling softly at him she spoke. "My name is Esme, it's nice to meet you Bella. What can I do for him?" Leaning down Esme began to push the wrappers back and forth for the boy to chase after and play with as she smiled happily. "Well you could leave some food out for him, talk to him even though he can't reply, play around with him like you are now. Things like that are good ways to care for the little guy, if you do that I'm sure his eternal stay shall be pleasant. By the way have there been any deaths in the area recently?"

As the others continued to stare on silently Carlisle got up and began to take down notes on the current situation. Being a man of curiosity he loved to research new things. "Well Pastor Webber did kick the can two days ago. The church burned down with him inside it and nobody has been able to figure out what caused the fire. I'm Emmett by the way." A big burly vampire got up as he spoke and walked over towards the trio on the floor, sitting down he pulled a ball out from his pocket and set it down in front of the boy. Feeling a sense of dread coming up Bella reached out and laid her hand on the spirit's head. Even though she could not touch him the memories would come just the same, she had to know what happened to the boy, and if he was the cause of the fire. Falling out of her own mind Bella felt herself drift into a memory, witnessing it as a bystander she watched.

_Memories flashed before her eyes. A boy, no older than five years old his bright blue eyes and shining golden hair glowed bright in the thin strip of sunlight streaming in from the boarded up room. He laid in the corner, weak and feeble, his body covered in gashes and bruises as he curled in on himself as if to decrease the pain of his wounds. The room was disgusting; coated in dirt and blood it must've been no bigger than a closet, there was a small boarded up window on the back wall. Footsteps echoed on the ceiling above and a door shut as the boots descended down, as the door slammed open the boy began to whimper, it was clear that he didn't understand what was happening but he was terrified. _

_A man walked in; he was large, rough and cruel looking, his eyes held nothing but darkness and he looked on expressionless. Saying nothing he grabbed the boy roughly and threw him across the room, the sickening crack as his head him the cement floor echoed loudly in the room. Muttering obscenities under his breath the man began to beat the child; hands and feet were flying at him and his cries increased in volume and frequency. After a time the man pulled out a knife and began to mutilate the boy who was obviously his son; they shared the same eyes after all. _

_After a long time he stopped; obviously growing bored with his actions and this boy in front of him barely even resembled a human being anymore. "Killing my wife when you were born sealed your fate Riley. You can burn for what you've done." Walking out of the room as he spoke he returned a minute later with a can a gasoline. Drenching the room and boy in it he left sealing the door behind him, minutes later the flames spread underneath the door and began to cloak the room. Smoke suffocating the boy he tried to cry out once more but his gasps rang silent in the room. As he tried to pull his mangled body away from the fire it crept up on him quickly, and in his last moments a tear dropped from his one remaining eye as his body was consumed by the flames._

Feeling herself resurface from the brutal memory she saw Esme, Alice, and Emmett surrounding her and looking on in concern. "You drifted off there for a couple minutes. What happened?" Gasping slowly and trying to adjust herself back to reality she looked down at the boy as a tear slowly fell from her eye, feeling his agony and seeing his pain was heartbreaking especially for a boy so young. "I was watching his last memories and seeing how he died. Was Angela abused by her father?" Reaching forward Alice grabbed onto Bella's hand, seeing her cry she did not want to push her but the support was still there. "From what she was thinking at school I would say yes she was and it was rather brutal." A bronze haired boy spoke up from the group that still had not moved or said anything. "My name is Edward and if you were wondering I can read minds. Well not yours apparently but still." Turning around again to Riley, Bella watched as Emmett and Esme kept playing around with the ball and wrappers for him.

"It makes sense then. This little guys name is Riley; he was brutally abused by his father for what I'd assume was a majority of his life. His father burned him to death after mangling his body. If Angela was abused I can only assume that Riley had come across Pastor Webber and decided to end his life in a similar way as both fathers had committed the same acts. Good riddance to the man." Standing up Bella walked over to Carlisle and shook his hand, striding away quickly she grabbed her jacket and turned back around. "Well as enlightening as this has been I need to get home. I'll drop by tomorrow so that we can keep going with this conversation as I'm sure you all have plenty of questions. In the mean time take care of that little guy for me okay?" Waving behind her and walking out she winked at Alice as she shut the door behind her. Getting in her car she drove away as the tears started to fall; remembering every second of Riley's last moments broke down her barriers and she couldn't' hold it in anymore. Driving home she tried to prep herself for the nightmares that were bound to come.

**AN: Thanks for reading! If you're interested in some of the concepts behind the Japanese/Spirit theme I'd suggest checking out the movie that inspired this. It's called Rigor Mortis. Or if you have any questions just PM me. Until next time!**


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